Page 63 of Forever and Ever

“Your turn, Romeo.”

Rome rolls his eyes, switching spots with her.

He throws his three darts, and from his proud reaction, he must have done better than her. I really have no idea what I’m watching.

“You’ll be in the studio tomorrow night, right?” Adrian turns to me.

“Yep, seven?” I drink a large gulp of wine.

“That works,” Adrian says, then his eyes fall over my shoulder. “Hey Noah.”

Noah?

I turn my head to see Noah standing a few feet behind my chair, and the whole room falls quiet. Either that or I’m just not hearing them, because things are suddenly feeling a little fuzzy. It might be the wine, or it might be that look in Noah’s eyes, but the air is static.

He’s here.

“Hey, Adrian,” he says, but his eyes are on me.

Focused, determined. And they’re saying a whole lot of shit my brain has been revolting against since the day I met him.

19

Noah

MyconversationwithKaligot awkward fast after I blurted out my feelings for Merry. But at least it had the effect of a bucket of ice water because it woke us both up.

When she finally processed my confession, there was the faintest amount of sadness in her eyes. That is, until she got flustered and suddenly had a lot to say. Although, most of it was a blur because all I wanted to do was get out of there and head to Sebastian’s house, knowing that’s where Merry was.

I’m not looking forward to the texts I bet I’ll receive from Mom over this. Knowing Kali is close with her makes it even more awkward. And just because Mom doesn’t speak to me, it doesn’t stop her from occasionally reaching out to pass her judgment via text.

“Noah, man,” Rome walks up to me and slaps me on the shoulder. “I hear you’ve got pussy problems.”

I have to remind myself I love the guy sometimes, and that he uses this as a barrier for whatever the fuck he’s got going on. But the guy is flat-out crude and even I cringe.

“This is why I keep telling you to stop getting all whipped. Fuck ‘em and leave ‘em,” he says, shaking my shoulder. And that’s what finally breaks the stare I’ve had locked on Merry since walking in.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” I ask him.

He just grins and shoves my shoulder a little before wandering back toward where he appears to be dominating the dartboard.

Sebastian tips his chin at me when our eyes connect, and Cassie is looking me up and down like there are a lot of thoughts going through that blonde and pink head of hers.

I ignore all of them and walk straight up to Merry, who is perched in a chair next to Adrian.

“You hate wine,” I say, and she looks from her glass to me, like she’s confused by it.

“It’s fine.” She takes another sip, but her mouth puckers at the taste. “How did it go?”

“Fine.” I push my hair back off my face, feeling like I’m crawling out of my skin all of a sudden. All eyes are on me, so Merry definitely told them where I was. “Can we talk?”

Merry’s eyes widen in surprise at the question because we both know where this goes—in the circle her and I have been going in for the past seven months. But I’m not looking for another rejection right now, I just need her to stop being so fucking stubborn and listen.

Her cheeks are flushed, and it might be the wine, but there’s also a nervous energy radiating from her that’s rare, and I take it as an opening.

“Sure.” She scans the room until her eyes land on Cassie, and they have some kind of unspoken conversation.

Merry stands up and sets the wine glass down on a table to follow me. The band is dead silent, and I know they’re all thinking a lot of different things, but luckily, they don’t say any of them.

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